“Uwaah! So you two have that kind of history together… That’s amazing!"

When I finished my story, the kid practically had stars inside his big round eyes. Once again, he looked like a hyper excited puppy.

Heh, was my story really that amazing?

I didn't embellish anything though. In fact, I hid some details, like when she took a bath with me for example. I didn't want to brag that she had a crush on me. It just felt wrong.

"So, you came all the way here just to look for her? You really are cool, Master Hugo! Oh, I wish I could be more like you! You and Miss Sherry both!”

A glint of sadness appeared in his eyes, betraying his smile. Oh dear this is unhealthy. Admiring someone is fine but you shouldn't hate yourself in the process.

I put my hands on his shoulders.

“I think you're fine as you are, Theo. You don’t need to be like me or Sherry. We’re not perfect either. Sherry has a temper problem and me, well, you know how I grabbed Tama’s tail the other day. I’m a huge perv. Far from the ideal man a kid like you should aspire to."

"But—"

"Look, the way you defended her back then, that was wonderful. You looked really cool. Keep it up!" I gave him my biggest, most encouraging grin.

"R-really?"

"Yep! Really!"

And just like, he was back to his usual cheerful self again. Haah, kids really are easy to manipulate. Though biologically speaking, we shouldn't be that different in age.

We spent the rest of the day there, only planning to return back to the city once the sun was sinking rapidly on the horizon. To give him extra encouragement, I even took to training myself. I didn't train my swordplay though. After doing the usual daily workout, 100 push-ups and sit-ups (don't want to get fat after all), I began training my magic instead.

My goal? Dual Cast. It's about time I learn that skill, I think. My control has been improving by leaps and bounds lately. If I can just conjure and mold two separate mana shapes at the same time, then I can be a proper dual-casting mage.

I started simple, casting a fireball on one hand and a water ball on another.

It… didn't go that well.

"Arghhh!"

"Master Hugo! Your pants are on fire!"

Without hesitation, I doused it off immediately with a water spell.

See? This is the problem. Stability. I can't keep both stable without making them dissipate or explode. Thank God the Water Ball already soaked the shorts beforehand so they didn't get damaged.

"Master Hugo! What are you doing? Are you practicing your magic by any chance?"

"That's right! I'm currently trying to learn to cast two spells at the same time!" And I want them to be different elements since I have some combination spells in mind I'd like to try.

My blunder didn't seem to deter the kid's admiration in the slightest.

"Two spells? You can do that?"

"Only if you're a really skilled mage. Even I am still unable to do it."

"Wow, something even you can't do…"

"Heh, you might think I'm this amazing mage but there are other mages much more amazing than I am out there. So don't feel bad about your own ability, alright? Just keep training and one day, before you know it, you'll have improved leaps and bounds from your old self."

With those encouraging words said, and a pat to his shoulder, I resumed my magic training, with Theo practicing his sword training nearby.

--------

"Aaahhhh, that was some good training, wasn't it?"

Stretching my arms upwards, I looked to the western horizon. The sun was now setting, meaning, it was time for us to return.

Theo was sitting on the ground, panting, his clothes soaked with sweat. He really went hard on his sword swings, doing them without pause for hours. Good. That will build up his stamina for sure.

I, on the other hand, remained on my two feet. Even after all the magic I cast, my mana pool was barely expended. They were just basic spells after all.

"Come! We should go back before it goes dark." I told the kid. "Or do you need my fairy to give you a boost? You seem to enjoy her presence the last time I summoned her." I smirked.

"N-no need! I can walk just fine!"

He wasn't lying, it seemed, as he was now back on his two feet.

"Hehe! She was cute, wasn't she?"

"M-Miss Fairy? I guess she is… B-but please don't tell her that!"

This kid… Teasing him is like teasing a really adorable little brother.

...Wait, was I acting like him when I was younger? Was that why Marina loved to tease me that much?

"Good job on your training by the way! You really gave it your all, didn't you? I might be training my magic but I still kept an eye on your form. And I have to say, you're doing it right!"

"Thank you, Master! I can't have done it without your guidance!" He gave a deep bow.

Turning around, I now kept my eye on the city entrance. Wouldn't want to go on the wrong direction, would we?

A strong breeze suddenly blew from the west, lifting my robe in the process. Too bad Felicia wasn't here or else this would have been a prime opportunity to look up her dress.

"M-Master Hugo! Y-your pants! They have a large hole in the back!"

What?!

Quickly, my hands moved to check.

Yep, sure enough, I could feel my underwear poking through the fabric. And, like he said, it was a sizable hole as well.

Oh goddamnit! One of those fireball spells must have burned a hole without me knowing!

Welp, guess it's really time for me to buy a new set of clothes. Preferably fire-resistant ones.

Thank God I wear a robe or else I'll have to make my way through town with my underwear showing.

"Hey, thank you for mentioning it. Aah, I messed up my spells more than I thought." I let out an exaggerated groan.

"A-are you alright, going through town like that? You can wear my pants if you want!"

"I'm fine! I'm fine! I got my robe covering it up!" Seriously? Did he just offer to exchange our shorts? I feel I'll start getting weird questions if people notice.

"Really? But if the wind blows like that again—"

"I'll just hold my robe down like this!" I pressed my hands to my butt. "Or, you know, use magic to fight the wind with my own wind."

Hey, come to think about it, this situation… it's like I'm wearing a skirt, isn't it?

Honestly, I don't know why girls would complain about their panties showing when they wear short skirts. It's like they're asking for it.

My robe is pretty long though. Going down all the way down my ankles. Though there's certainly an appeal in long skirts being lifted up as well… Sherry used to do that whenever we fought…

Wait, what the hell am I thinking? No one is going to like a guy showing off his underwear. He'll be laughed at instead, especially by the girls. I still remember that time my trousers had a rip at work, in my old life. Yeah, that pretty much ended my chances with the girls there, if it ever existed in the first place.

"Alright, enough talking around. Let's go back. I'm starving. Oh, I know! Why don't we have dinner together? There's this place—"

"I-I'm sorry, but I can't. Tira is going to be working late tonight, you see." His voice trailed off as he averted his gaze, looking dejected.

Damn, no wonder he wants to be strong so badly. His sister really is working hard for their sake.

Though I wonder how a human like him can have an elf sister.

Oh well, a question for another day.

--------

Meanwhile, little did they know that their actions at the dungeon had caused an uproar at the guild.

"Seriously? With just a single spell?"

"Yeah, that's right! With just a single spell he killed that monster! Destroyed its body with an invisible attack! The kid looks like he's thirteen but he's a master mage for sure!"

"And you say the weakest whelp is with him?"

"Yeah! They seem to have joined forces!"

"Joined forces? Ha! Don't make me laugh! He's leeching over this Hugo guy's kindness!"

The news of Hugo singlehandedly slaying an S-rank boss monster spread like wildfire as the Fafnir Clan returned from their excursion. The name of Hugo Greenwood, Felicia Myne, and even Theo and Tama — each one of them became famous literally overnight.

And so, it was only a matter of time until the other top-ranked adventurers made their move against them.

“Ha! Ahahahahahahahaha! Finally! Someone interesting has come!”

The crowd fell silent as her laugh filled the room.

“Oi oi! That’s Jedora, isn’t it? One of the Ten Braves?”

“And beside her is her older sister, Hedora! Another one of the Ten Braves!”

“Listen, you weaklings! Hugo Greenwood is mine! I won’t hand him over to anyone else!” The girl declared, thumping her chest.

"I thought you hated him, Jedora." Her older sister commented with a flat tone.

"Ha! That was in the past! I hated him for groveling like a dog back then. But now, it's clear he wasn't just another weakling."

"You and your simple-mindedness." The older one sighed. "I always knew he was special. A boy that cute—he can't be all bad."

They were Westernese Amazonesses, a fact that was immediately obvious by their dark skin and their skimpy outfits, consisting only what amounted to a strip of cloth around their chest and a pareo around their waist. And they were barefooted as well, a tradition they shared with the hobbits (not that there were many hobbits in the Demon Continent, mind you—the environment was too harsh for them). They were near-identical twins, though one was taller with bigger assets.

"Let's go, Sis! Let's make him ours!"

The older one nodded silently before following her out of the guild.

As Amazonesses, they had a tradition of kidnapping men they were fond of and raping him over and over until he broke and agreed to be their husband. And, it just so happened that the two had a fondness for young and cute boys like Hugo, especially when they were really strong as well. They were there when Hugo first made his appearance, groveling in the ground for fondling Tama's tail. They would've made their move if not for that incident.

The Predator of Boys. That was the not-so-flattering nickname they got under whispered breaths. They had raped ten male newcomers to the Guild before throwing them aside like dirt once they grew bored of them. Theo was only spared that fate because of how pathetic he was. Patheticness was a huge turnoff for any Amazoness after all.

No one dared to stop them. They were part of the Ten Braves after all, ten of the strongest S-rank adventurers in the region.

--------

Hugo

"Hold it right there! You're Hugo Greenwood, aren't you?"

Just before the city gates, we were stopped by a pair of skimpily dressed dark-skinned beauties. Now, normally, I would be more than happy to indulge in a conversation with them, but with my ripped pants and the tone they spoke in, I felt this would be more trouble than it's worth.

"No. You got the wrong guy. I don't know who that is."

"Don't lie to me!" The one who spoke pointed her index finger at me. "I know you! You and your redhead companion!"

I sighed. Guess there's no evading this one. "Alright, what do you want?"

"Fight me! If I win, you become my man!"

"... I'm sorry?"

She leaped forward, not even waiting until I finished my sentence.

Oh for the love of—

"Run!"

I shoved Theo to the side, readying my Wind Wall just in time to block her punch.

"Coerl Style! Thousand Rapid Kicks!"

The girl kicked the barrier over and over with inhuman speed. Grunting, I put more of my mana to reinforce the wall.

"Master Hugo! I'll—"

"Go! I can handle this on my own!" Sorry kiddo, but the last thing I need is for you to get in the way of my fight.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw the other one leaping in as well. Both barefooted and unarmed, they fought just like those monks that chased after Fiora.

The taller, more well-endowed one circled around me, knowing I had nothing to protect my back. The shorter, flatter one continued to rain high kicks on my barrier.

Well, guess I'll have to get a bit more serious.

Unsheathing my sword with my left hand, I lowered the wind barrier and slashed the exposed feet. I wasn't fast enough to actually cut it off but I was pretty sure I landed a deep gash on her skin.

"Gah!"

The shorter one retreated, just in time for me to block the punch of the older one with another Wind Wall.

"Tch!" A groan escaped her lips. Sorry Miss but I can cast low level spells with just a flick of the wand now.

Using Graceful Step to dash backwards, I finally had the opportunity to put a distance between me and them.

"Really? Attacking a kid like me without any warning? Two to one at that? Have you two no shame?"

"I like you, Hugo Greenwood! You really are as strong as they say you are! Be our husbands and we won't have to break every bone in your cute little body!" The shorter one grinned.

...What?

"Look. I have no idea what you're talking about. And I already have a girlfriend. I'm not interested in a bunch of meatheads like you."

"Playing hard to get? Fine by me! As an Amazoness, I'll show you just how strong of a warrior I am!"

An Amazoness? Ah, that makes sense. Dark skin, skimpy clothes, absurd strength—all point to them being part of that tribe.

Yeah, I think I remember reading about how the females dominate over the males there. Males have no rights, treated as tools to impregnate and pleasure the females. Also to take care of their babies.

Not the kind of life I'm interested in for sure.

She charged forward once more for round two. Instead of erecting another Wind Wall, however, I opted to use Wind Step and flew upwards.

"You think I can't get you up there? Think again!"

As I predicted, she jumped right towards my position.

She had fallen right into my trap.

"Fell Wind! Clothes-Stripping Hurricane!"

Sometimes you wouldn't really want to kill your opponent in a fight. And this was one way you could take care of such a situation.

My spell landed on her and her sister on the ground, destroying their skimpy clothes in an instant. And then, I simply dodged out of the way from the former's mid-air fist by ducking my head.

Aah, what a nice view…

In the milliseconds it took for me to descend to the ground, I could see her breasts and girlhood in all their naked glory.

The moment my feet touched the earth, I used Graceful Step to put some more distance between us.

The girl managed to land on her feet. However…

"Kyaaahh!"

Letting out a surprisingly girlish scream, she covered her chest and crotch. The older one followed suit though not without the screaming.

"Hehe! How do you like it? It's my perfected undressing wind spell."

"You-you're terrible! Now I can't get married anymore!"

"Does it look like my problem? Let this be a lesson to you two to stop kidnapping young boys like me, alright? You're lucky I don't just decide to kill you."

"You… youuuuuu!"

The younger one was now positively in tears. The older one, however, kept her blank look the entire time, with only the blush on her cheeks showing her shame.

"Master Hugo. Please, allow me to apologize."

And then, all of a sudden, the older one knelt down and prostrated right in my direction.

"You have defeated me completely. As the victor, you have the right to do whatever you wish with me. Take me as your slave and—"

"No thanks. I have no interest in bringing around slaves."

What is up with this girl? Is there something wrong with her head?

Wait, don't tell me she's one of those hyper-M girls? At this point, with all the weird people I've met, I won't be surprised if she's one.

What a shame. She has a nice body. About the same proportions as Felicia.

"H-hey, wait! You can't just leave us here like this!"

Nope. That's your punishment. Going back to your inn naked.

After giving the two Amazoness one last ogle, who hopefully had learned their lesson, I made my way to Theo, who was waiting for me right at the gates. He'd been watching my fight from afar, along with a couple of the guards there. One of them greeted me first as I approached.

"Good job, kiddo! Didn't want to kill them so you beat them that way! As a guard, I'd rather not have adventurers killing each other."

"Hey, you think you can jail them for attempted kidnapping?"

"Nope! Our Lord specifically says to leave you adventurers alone in your conflicts. Not to mention they’re S-rank adventurers. Us ordinary guards stand no chance against them. We’ll need the likes of Lady Marlene and her elite mages to contend against them, and they’re out right now.”

Ah, Marlene. Victoria’s older sister. Apparently a really strong mage.

And it really is true that the laws are lax in the Demon Continent.

Still, this guard is too cheerful when admitting it. No sense of justice in the slightest, huh?

"Master Hugo, that was amazing!" Theo was next to speak up. "Though I'm not sure if it's a good thing for you to strip them like that…"

Heh, the kid's blushing. First time seeing a naked girl?

"Why not?" I decided to tease him further.

"W-well, it's not nice to them, isn't it? Tira always told me to be nice to girls…"

The future gentleman, everyone!

Placing my hand on his shoulder, I grinned. *Good! You're already better with girls than I am! Me though, I don’t care doing that to girls I don’t care about. Especially when they just attacked me out of nowhere. This is better than actually injuring them for real, I think.”

“I-I guess you got a point…”

This kid… he’s too nice for his own good.

Though at least he’s still a healthy kid behind all that. Yep. His pants are tenting a bit. Definitely turned on by those naked Amazonesses.

Huh, you think it’s weird for me to stare at his crotch? I suppose you got a point…But I swear I don’t swing that way! Look at my own crotch! It’s tenting a bit too! I like girls, alright? Not boys! Not even a feminine-looking one like him!

-----------

After going on our separate ways, telling him on where we had moved now, I made my way back to the workshop right away

“Felicia, I’m back!”

The first floor of the workshop was just the laboratory, the kitchen, and the tiny room on the entrance. The place really wasn't that big so I could already smell that familiar scent of alchemical reagents and drugs even when I just opened the front door.

Hmm? What's this?

I was greeted by the sight of her sitting on a chair inside her laboratory.

She's sleeping, isn't she? Those closed eyes… that slouched posture… yep, she's sleeping alright.

Naturally, my eyes traveled down her exposed legs and thighs. They weren't wide open but they were open enough that I could see the familiar red fabric between them

...Oh my, her panties are showing. That's not good. You'll catch a cold sleeping like that.

With a grin, I moved over behind her and leaned down, grabbing her breasts from behind.

“Wake up… Your dear Hugo is here…” I whispered to her ears.

She immediately jumped, almost hitting my chin with her head.

“A-ah! Y-you’re back, Milord! How was your excursion?”

“Yes, I am!” I straightened myself up and smiled at the flustered alchemist. “And it was great! Trained all day with the kid. He might not be that talented in the sword but he sure is a hard worker.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Milord.” She returned with her own, flustered smile.

“So, did you finish your tests? Can you replicate his medicine?”

All of a sudden, that smile disappeared.

“It’s… well… I suppose I should start from the beginning.”

--------

...No friggin’ way…

His medicine… isn’t a medicine at all? It’s… it’s a drug instead? An addictive one? Like heroin in my old world?

When she finished her story, I was the one who had to sit down on the chair.

“A-are you sure?”

“I am. Whoever prescribed his medicine… had deceived him from the very beginning.”

My surprise was soon drowned by the malice I felt emanating from Felicia.

Ah, it’s that murderous smile again. The same smile that came out when she saw those slaves.

“Unforgivable, isn’t it, Milord?”

“Y-yes, truly unforgivable.”

“And so, I’m planning to give them a visit tomorrow. Give them a bit of talking to. As one alchemist to another.”

“T-talking to? Are you sure that’s all you’re going to do?”

“...Perhaps not. That’s why I want you to come along as well, Milord. As a… safety measure, so to speak.”

“G-got it! I’ll go with you.”

Oh boy, I can already see it, her poisoning whoever that alchemist is so they would die a painful, agonizing death.

Not that they don’t deserve it, mind you. Scamming a sick, poor kid like that… it really is unforgivable.

But if she does, there’s a chance the authorities will track it to us. That means we’ll have to leave this city early.

...Or not. That guard said it himself. Ordinary guards can't contend with elite adventurers like us. They need Marlene and her mages to do it for them. And they’re out right now on a campaign against the demons.

...Yeah. If something happens, and it tends to happen in this sort of situation, then we should be able to handle it. I hope.

I’m tired of running. I’ll do what I want with the power I have. And that includes supporting Felicia. That look of hers… I have a hunch she’ll be disappointed in me if I tell her not to do it.

Well, I’ve killed a good seventy people or so in that caravan. If I have to kill one or a couple more, I don't really care.

But, if the guy apologizes and repents, then I'll stop her from doing anything rash. That's all there is to it.

Still, being an evil doctor who intentionally gives their patients drug addictions just to fuel his greed, you have to be a special kind of person to be that evil. I doubt they would apologize.

Oh well, we'll see tomorrow.